Beef Brisket

Dollye’s Beef Brisket

2 tbsp salt
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp onion powder
1 tbsp ground black pepper
1 tbsp sugar
2 tsp mustard (if you don’t have dry mustard, use bottled yellow)
2-3 tbsp louisiana hot sauce (your heat preference)
1 bay leaf crushed
3 lbs beef brisket
1 can beef stock

Set oven to 350 degrees.

Combine all ingredients except beef stock and spoon and rub into both sides of beef brisket. Place on a roasting pan, fat side up and cook uncovered for 1 hour.

Add beef stock into bottom of roasting pan and enough water to barely touch bottom of brisket. Reduce heat to 300 degrees, cover the roasting pan with foil and continue cooking for another 2 hours.

Let the meat rest for at least 15 minutes before slicing, top with juice from the pan.

Church culture and hip-hop

Jeff Johnson from BET gave a great speech on the church and the hip-hop sub-culture.

“To often urban ministry is nothing more than suburban ministry in black face – where we have these huge suburban churches that have created these huge sophisticated curriculums that are opposed to dealing with the nuances of what people are dealing with in the urban communities. They just slap an Asian person or a black person or somebody that looks broke on the cover of the book with some graffiti in the background and then everything is all good. But the reality is – hip-hop is nothing more than a language. And if the people of God would be able to affectively utilize that language they would be able to speak to a nation of young people that think Christians are punks.”

Proverbs 18

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Solomon has a lot to say about the mouth today in Proverbs 18.
Oh the mouth. Such a small part of the body – yet it reveals so much about a person. I’ve heard that dentists can pinpoint many things about your overall health just by examining your mouth. I think Solomon, along with other writers of scripture, would say we can judge a lot about your spiritual and mental health by looking at what comes out of your mouth.

4 Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. 5 Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. 6 The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. – James 3:4-6

Solomon writes:

2 A fool finds no pleasure in understanding
but delights in airing his own opinions.
4 The words of a man’s mouth are deep waters,
but the fountain of wisdom is a bubbling brook.
6 A fool’s lips bring him strife,
and his mouth invites a beating.
7 A fool’s mouth is his undoing,
and his lips are a snare to his soul.
8 The words of a gossip are like choice morsels;
they go down to a man’s inmost parts.
13 He who answers before listening—
that is his folly and his shame.
19 An offended brother is more unyielding than a fortified city,
and disputes are like the barred gates of a citadel.
20 From the fruit of his mouth a man’s stomach is filled;
with the harvest from his lips he is satisfied.
21 The tongue has the power of life and death,
and those who love it will eat its fruit.

That’s a lot to chew on (pun intended). We can do so much damage with our tongue and mouth. We can destroy a relationship in seconds if we are unable to bridle our tongue. Yet with that same mouth we praise God.
How much easier life would be if we could each learn to control the overflow of our heart. And of course there’s more to it than just taping our mouth shut. We have to strive to fill our hearts with Godly things rather than ungodly things if we ever hope to change the overflow of our heart.

I’ve said this before, but if I spend the weekend with Laurie – guess what I’m talking about Monday through Wednesday at least – Laurie. If I spend the weekend watching things I shouldn’t be watching, hearing things I shouldn’t listen to, laughing at things I shouldn’t laugh at – guess what I’m going to talk about the next week?
The same goes for our mouth with Godly talk. If we fill our hearts with God – He will naturally overflow.

Lord, fill my heart with you. Help me strive to want more of you and may my life be an overflow of your love.

Milk Chocolate Bar Cake

MILK CHOCOLATE BAR CAKE

1 (18.25 oz.) package Swiss chocolate cake mix (I used Duncan Hines)
1 (8-oz) package cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
10 (1.5 oz) milk chocolate candy bars with almonds (I used Hershey bars w/almonds)
1 (120oz.) container frozen whipped topping (I used CoolWhip)

*PREPARE cake according to package directions. Pour batter into 3 greased and floured 8″ round cakepans.

*BAKE @ 325 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool cake in pans on wire racks 10 minutes. Remove cake from pans; cool completely on wire racks.

*BEAT cream cheese, powdered sugar, & granulated sugar at medium speed in electric mixer until mixture is creamy.

*CHOP 8 candy bars finely. Fold cream cheese mixture and chopped candy into whipped topping.

*SPREAD icing between layers and on top & sides of cake. Chop remaining 2 candy bars. Sprinkle half of chopped candy bars over cake. Press remaining chopped candy along bottom edge of cake.

Prep: Approx. 20 minutes. Bake: 25 minutes.